Equilibrio Vital - Equilibrio Vital

Home Artist links Label link

Equilibrio Vital - Equilibrio Vital

Artist:	Equilibrio Vital
Title:	Equilibrio Vital
Label:	Musea FGBG 4457.AR
Length(s):	46 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1983/2003
Month of review:	[12/2003]

Line up

Marcos Chacon - guitar, vocals
Guillermo Gonzalez - bass, flute, guitar, vocals
Carlos Serga - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Laureano Rangel - drums
Arnoldo Serga - bass, percussion
Elena Prieto - vocals, backing vocals

Tracks

1)	Guerra	10.56
2)	El Emigrante	4.38
3)	Aliento Y Esperanza	6.53
4)	A Mi Padre	4.56
5)	Armonias Con El Infinito	4.39
6)	Madre	4.17
7)	Momentos	3.54
8)	A Mis Amigos	6.21

Summary

This band orginates from Venezuela, the music dates back to 1983 for the most part, but also includes some songs from the period 2000-2003. Seems they recorded four albums, so far. This is the first one. The album is now a tribute to Marcos Chacon who died tragically in 2001, as explained in the extensive bilingual booklet.

The music

Guerra is the long opener and is in the typical Latin American lyrical style. The sound is very seventies, not just the sound quality, but the music itself as well. We also find here the emotionality typical for the progressive bands from Latin America and Italy. However, we also find the necessary Deep Purple influences here (tempo change in the vein of Child In Time). The guitar playing is good, sharp and captivating. A song that shows that the recording comes second place to the spirit that a band can put into their music. A very epic work.

El Emigrante features harmony singing, with Elena Prieto adding her voice to the one of the main vocalist. One of the drawbacks of the recording is that the voices sound quite harsh and sharp. The song is a rather catchy up-tempo affair with a good vocal melody and a fine flow. But the vocals make it come over rather roughly. Thinking of this album as a live album does help in that sense.

Aliento Y Esperanza is a ballad, with gentle oocasional guitar playing. A bit of a laid back track, but the vocal melodies are well taken care off. I hear some crackling in the sound on this song. Halfway, the pace sets in, the vocals hastening, the flute going just as fast. Tull is then not far off. The closing section is on the bombastic side.

A Mi Padre is again strong songmaterial, with powerful chords and good vocal melodies. It breathes a kind of epic "we shall overcome" feel with a strong emotional vocal presentation and bluesy guitar playing. Do I hear a record playing here? Was this recorded from vinyl? Halfway, the song becomes more upbeat and Elena comes in for some nice vocal harmony work to complement the other vocals.

Armonias Con El Infinito is a catchy up-tempo piece dominated by guitar. The vocals do not go any further than la-la-la on this one. Madre is no bound to be such a track, in fact we have returned to the ballad side of the band. The sophisticated vocal melodies and subtle acoustic guitar strumming make this another worthy song.

Momentos is a slow moving track, with washes of cymbals, spaceous guitar work and a catchy chorus. A Mis Amigos is a more mellow track, again with a distinctive vocal melody. The up-tempo rock owes maybe more to Bruce Springsteen's E Street band, especially when the sax sets in.

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the meagre sound quality I am not surprised that Musea has decided to release this album. The compositions are good, the melodies great, the playing enthusiastic, the singing full of emotion and some nice vocal harmony to boot. That the band did not have that means for a good recording and production is just too bad, because the music deserves more. If oyu are looking for references, the seventies are quite strongly present, with element of Deep Purple and the typical lyrical elements of Latinamerican and Italian bands. Some Jethro Tull references can be heard, but also the more guitar dominated seventies progressive rock bands from the U.K.